Nigeria lacks sufficient energy to serve rising population, says Sahara Group CEO

KOLA Adesina, group Managing Director of Sahara Power group has decried the insufficient energy supply in Nigeria amid growing population.

According to him, “The quantum of energy in the system today is absolutely insufficient for our population.

Adesina noted this in Abuja after being conferred as an honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Society of engineers (NSE) during the 2022 National engineering Conference.

“Our population is growing phenomenally, whereas the infrastructure that needs to deliver the key services to serve as the engine to grow the GDP is lagging behind,” he said.

he further said that the alignment of value chains in the nation’s power sector will improve the quality of its services.

“It is a value chain for a reason. An engineer is a problem solver. he is somebody that sees a problem and finds a solution to it.

“All the needs in that value chain must be available from day one. That’s the only way you can ensure that they still supply anywhere in the world.”

For him, the solution to energy shortage would be to ensure effective usage of natural resources to generate electricity appropriately and optimally.

“The moment we can get the gas issue resolved, that moment we can get generations into locations where there off-taker and transmission facilities,” he said.

Delivering his opening speech, President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration is working to deliver better governance at a reduced cost to Nigerians through digital technologies.

President Buhari who was represented by the minister of science, technology and innovation, Adeleke Mamora, noted that Nigeria’s digital economy is the fastest growing sector in the nation’s economy and the only sector that grew by double digits at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.